Towards Freedom

In Philostratus' Life of Apollonius, we have perhaps the clearest historical account of an ancient vegan in the character of Apollonius of Tyana. This article will explore Apollonius's views on veganism and animal righton, their relation to the philosophical life of the ancients and will chronicle some of the experiences Apollonius faced in regards to his veganism.

As a continuation of our series on ancient vegans, we'll attempt here to take into consideration Porphyry's essay On Abstinence from Animal Food, written in the third century CE, and translated into English by Thomas Taylor in 1823. A full pdf of the essay is provided here.

Porphyry (234-305 CE), the student of Plotinus, and elder contemporary of Iamblichus, plays a central role in the Neoplatonism of the early centuries CE. He is perhaps best known for his compilation of his teacher's works, which are today known as the Enneads , but he was also a voluminous writer in his own right. Among his writings is the famous Life of Pythagoras , from which we gain many insights into the way of life prescribed by that great philosopher, which we touched on in our article on Apollonius of Tyana. It was this way of life that influenced Porphyry and other Neoplatonists in their adoption of a diet including no animal foods. Porphyry's strong position on animal rights and veganism is demonstrated aptly in the following quote:

Orpheus charming wild animals with his music

To Health

O Much-desir'd, prolific, gen'ral queen,
Hear me, life-bearing, Health, of beauteous mien,
Mother of all; by thee diseases dire,
Of bliss destructive, from our life retire;
And ev'ry house is flourishing and fair,
If with rejoicing aspect thou art there:
Each daedal art, thy vig'rous force inspires,
And all the world thy helping hand desires;
Pluto life's bane alone resists thy will,
And ever hates thy all-preserving skill.
O fertile queen, from thee forever flows
To mortal life from agony repose;
And men without thy all-sustaining ease,
Find nothing useful, nothing form'd to please;
Without thy aid, not Plutus' self can thrive,
Nor man to much afflicted age arrive;
For thou alone of countenance serene,
Dost govern all things, universal queen.
Assist thy mystics with propitious mind,
And far avert disease of ev'ry kind.

The weight of anger is far heavier than the weight of joy. In it’s most vicious form, anger can lead to murder; joy easily distributes love, even in it’s simplest form. While both are natural emotions to our genetic make-up, we can choose to possess more of the one which we desire to encompass most often, but often times it seems we are displaying the less desired one. There are many ways to prevent and manage anger, which if obtained, consequently leads to more joy. A most basic technique in preventing anger is by providing your body with the proper chemicals. Dealing with anger once it arises is a matter of acknowledgement and understanding.

About 3 times a year I send money to different dog and cat rescue groups to pull dogs and cats from high kill shelters, especially those who are still gassing former pets to death. It's pretty awful to see these once beloved animals turned over to shelters for such frivolous excuses as: "we just had a baby and don't have time to care for our cat", or "we are now working longer hours and it is a shame to crate our poor dog all day long". The list of reasons for dumping pets is endless.

While driving to work one day, out of frustration I heard myself say aloud to another driver "you're driving like a turtle", "move along little doggie". It bothers me to drive slowly since there are many other places I prefer to be than in a car.

What bothered me more that day was that in one sentence I used animals as similies twice. It occurred to me how many times I have said: he works like a horse, who let the cat out of the bag, eats like a pig, like water off a duck's back, he's a little ham, scaredy cat, and feeling sheepish. Most of us have grown up with language that uses animals as analogies, similies and metaphors and have not given much notice to how demoralizing it is to use animals in a negative context.

[Our thanks to Debbie Took for allowing reprinting from her original blog.]

Let's start with the disclaimer. Not a doctor. Not a dietician. Not a biochemist. Not a 'raw food guru'. Just a raw food coach who blogs. In fact, I don't even possess a chemistry O-level. As with any blog article, this article represents my personal opinion (together with the opinions of others working in the health field, including a raw food guru or two!) and is not intended to diagnose, treat, etc.

This page is presently in construction.

This is the comprehensive ARVEG FAQ produced by KG which covers just about every imaginable attack against animal rights and vegan stances. It provides factual, effective and occasionally amusing responses provided. (Some additions and modifications have been made from the earlier version and the original due to broken 20+ yr links as well as new material.)

In the TOC, "->" indicates there is more to the question than could be fitted and can be viewed by clicking on the link.

Astrology has more substance than what you can find in the entertainment section of your daily newspaper. It's history is like a road, stretching back to Babylonian times, that has since branched into as many different directions as there are human traits. In respect to it's history, we owe it to ourselves to give astrology a closer look in order to understand why it has been around for so long and what we could possibly gain from it, other than a laugh. Taking astrology seriously, instead of ridiculing it, could provide a more thorough understanding of the field and may even prove to be beneficial.

While I tend to be agnostic, there are many aspects of various religions I admire, a viewpoint which permits one to not hold arrogant perspectives like 'my religion is better than yours'. This competitive attitude has been largely responsible throughout history for barbaric behaviour in the name of God who would be least appreciative of having One's 'children' slaughtering 'children' - with self-proclaimed Christians mutually slaughtering self-proclaimed Muslims mutually slaughtering self-proclaimed Hindus mutually slaughtering self-proclaimed whatevers etc etc

You want to get good on the internet so you can get things done effectively and efficiently. This article will show you how.

Fallacious argumentations in animal rights and vegan discussions are identified according to the rules of logic. This guide exposes standard logical fallacies that repeatedly appear and demonstrates their invalidity.

This article summarizes some food combining principles from chapter 26 of Shelton's book The Science and Fine Art of Food and Nutrition. Shelton advocated strict vegetarianism (also known as dietary vegan) as well as eating foods in their natural raw state.

It is important to note that food combining has nothing to do with protein combining which was an amusing bit of panic prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s when some people thought that the vegetarian has to eat foods in certain proportions in order to get a proper protein balance. This misconception persisted partly because of a misinterpretation of Frances Lappe Moore's idea that one has to combine foods in order to get the same protein balance that meat provides. Some people thought she meant the vegetarian has to combine foods so as to get the right balance of proteins which of course assumes that meat has the right balance of proteins for humans. This notion is complete nonsense as evidenced by clinical studies as well as by the historically healthy existence of vegetarians throughout history. Meat does not provide the 'right' combination of proteins, nor is it at all desirable to food combine to simulate that protein profile (which of course varies anyway depending upon the source).

This article will be of no interest to women and children so they needn't read any further. This is a masculine issue that we do not usually wish to discuss openly. It is an awkward matter and appears unavoidable once we reach a certain age. While we can pretend it is of no importance or even disguise the effects, we should be honest with ourselves, our loved ones and have the courage to be forthright in our integrity. This is why I wrote this article, so that all the males here who have been so afflicted can be supported by others, and, without embarrassment, can this part of their lives, face.

Fireworks are a severe problem for many: wildlife, farm animals, pets, people with PTSD and anxiety. They are seen by some as a traditional and/or cultural means of celebration. Hence, jurisdictions often allow such activities which are a blatant abuse of an individual's basic rights.

Cartoon by Graham Harrop.

This article was written by one of the ADAV advisors, Dr. Maidie Hilmo, PhD, and has appeared on ADAV first.

Going back to ancient times, the Spring Equinox, falling on March 20 this year, has been celebrated as a time of transition when day and night are the same length. It represents the victory of light over darkness. This significance of this is especially relevant to to the current situation when the powers of light are battling against some particularly barbaric forces. It seems to be a measure of what has been unleashed in recent times as backward thinking has become increasingly manifested in various ways. A mind set does not tend to occur in isolation. What have we become?

Learning is an important fabric of who we are and what we are able to become. The process of leaning has the ability to change the world- for better or for worse.

Throughout history many great thinkers have commented on this subject and have ideas and learning techniques which if applied on a mass scale would revolutionize our educational system as we know it.

The following are thoughts and ideas each individual has contributed to the field of education.

Some time ago the knowledgeable ones in government decided to spend millions of dollars TO DEVELOP a community's capacity to look after its people. This brought thoughts of earlier days to mind. It is spring in Manitoba where, in spring, there is a window of only a few weeks when everything has to be done if one wants a harvest in the fall. I thought of the Wilsons, a young couple just starting out on their own farm. Tragedy!! Eric broke his right leg.

People sometimes get into a tizzy about whether to help others or help themselves. There is no need to see the issue as an either-or.

More to come, as we welcome new contributions.

Former senior Research Scientist with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), Jonathan Balcombe, born in England and raised in New Zealand and Canada, currently presides in the United States and is Chair of the Animal Studies Department at Humane Society University. While Dr. Balcombe holds three biology degrees total, he specializes in the study of animal behavior, or ethology, and has a PhD in this area of study. As a leading animal behavior researcher, Balcombe, who is also an accomplished author and public speaker, is an animal-rights activist and chooses a plant-based, vegan diet. But his compassion for animals soars higher than his dietary choices; he centers his career on the ethical and fair treatment of all living things. Seeing and appreciating animals for the wide variety of notions and emotions that they are fully capable of experiencing, he has dedicated many of his studies to debunking the common human assumption that animals' lives are just a bleak "struggle for survival".

As a martial artist, I used to wonder if there was one ultimate way to focus one's combat skills, if a style could be developed that took out all the stylistic frills and utilized scientific principles to form a perfect combat system. My reasoning was, if most human bodies are essentially the same, surely there's one specific method of fighting that's superior, and the plethora of styles within martial arts are just culturally-influenced deviations from this hypothetical one-true-way.

Unless we want innocent people killed and terrorists bombing Canada, as has been threatened, we need to do something.

President Bush is the next Hitler, and Prime Minister Harper is his sidekick. We are now at war, alongside the States, in the middle east. What is it about? It's not about weapons of mass destruction, we should all know that by now. It's about money. Oil.

The people leading our countries, if it has not occured to you, are not in the business to make our world a better place, but for their own greed, which seems, is worsening the state of our world. Innocent civilians in the middle east, and troops from the countries involving themselves in the war, are dying.

I have left out names to protect the innocent?—or was that the guilty?

My initial introduction to municipal politics was the result of my friendship with a former president of our local clay court tennis club. This gentleman was very active, as a volunteer, on a number of community committees, including a regional committee on race relations. He suggested that I should become more aware of the issues that faced our community, including somewhat grandiose plans for the redevelopment of our surrounding area.

Some well-intentioned people create arguments by equating the concept of natural with the concept of good. I say they are well-intentioned because it is by no means done out of malice or prospects of winning debate points. However, the equation is not valid. In fact, within philosophical circles it is known as the 'appeal to nature' fallacy.

The first problem we have is that it is unclear what 'natural' really means. The second problem, though perhaps not as difficult, is understanding what is 'good'. Most people seem to realize at a personal level that pain, ill-health, death are probably not good things while vibrancy, well-being, some extent of self-determination generally are good things. However, the idea of 'natural' is wrapped in murkiness and therefore lends itself to most peculiar self- serving manipulations.

The Golden Rule is the only moral principle that grounds itself in objective observation. The primary three systems of normative ethics: deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics, all share the common failure to conclusively answer the question "Why should I care?" when they make claims of how individuals ought to behave. The Golden Rule, however, does not even ask that we care about the principle at all, it simply explains that when we act in a manner toward others that is inconsistent with how we would like to be treated, then we are being hypocritical and unfair. This replaces opinion with fact, so that the desires of individuals cannot be held above it. However, the Golden Rule does have some loopholes that ought to be addressed in order to form a more solid basis for morality.

I'm clearing out my life
of baggage held so long
no need for limitation
this makes me strong

No need to talk about
the moment that is now
plans or hopes or dreams
why or when or how

silence says it all
heart sings aloud
God is right here
not on some distant cloud

appearances can deceive
but all that I need
is here in my heart
and so I am freed

In regards to the "nobody's vegan" idea, I'll attempt to demonstrate why it is flawed in its essence.

The "nobody's vegan" idea stems from the delusion that there is ever an absolute manifestation of anything within a universe constructed on a foundation of relativity combined with the delusion that it is those absolute's we are talking about when we identify something with a label. No absolute ideal is ever fully, 100%, completely manifest. All manifstation is a construction of degrees, of spectrum. Just as there is no absolute light, nor absolute dark, so too is there no absolute manifestation of anything within an essentially duality-based existence, and when we use the term 'light' we do not mean absolute light, but instead we mean some level of light beyond a minimum marker on the spectrum of light to dark.

The process of folding paper is a rewarding one since it provides an opportunity to exercise one's creativity within strict outcomes. Furthermore, the finished product of this activity has various utilitarian applications as will be illustrated in the second part of this article. Though many types of folding exist, we will restrict ourselves in this document to the class of bifolds. Future articles may be published which deal with folding of greater complexities.

[Our thanks to Debbie Took for allowing reprinting from her original blog.]

Disclaimer : not a doctor, not a scientist, just a raw fooder who blogs. Some of the suggestions in this article are radical. They may be shocking, or, at the least, seem a bit barmy. Some might cause offence. Some might even be considered dangerous. I'm just presenting an…alternative view of something that is considered 'normal' in our modern, 'developed' society, and that (we've been brought up to think) is therefore healthy.

The following is a well-known tale from the Liezi attributed to Taoist Lie Yukou. It appears in various translations such as A.C. Graham's The Book of Lieh-tzu (p82 pdf) and Eva Wong's Lieh-tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living. The following is quoted from the Thomas Cleary translation (details provided at the end):

Lung Shu said to the physician Wen Chi, "Your art is subtle. I have an ailment; can you cure it?"

The physician said, "I will do as you say, but first tell me about your symptoms."

Above image was modified using GIMP from an illustration by Anna Bhushan for Folio Society's Bhagavad Gita. See other illustrations by Anna at her website.

On the field of Kurukshetra all was tranquil the evening before the battle between the forces of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Arjuna who was the greatest archer of the latter group, pondered heavily on what was to come. For you see, the Kauravas were his brothers too and when the slaughter began, he knew he would be killing members of his own family.

It seems that choosing one's state of being leads to creations that further reinforce it; such is the nature of physical reality.

Looking at the picture you will see a selection of treasures on a table in the corner; a bed of crystals upon which rests a desert rose (rock) on the left, a lantern on the right and a Goddess statue in the middle who is draped with an angel quartz necklace, plus a candle that lies before her and a glass pyramid prism aligned directly behind her. There are crystals of many kinds, with many pieces of rose quartz and purple amethyst among them, interspersed with various green crystals. So what of these objects, is it just that they look pretty?

The foundation of the ethical arguments used to defend vivisection, the meat industry, and other forms of exploitation protested by animal righton campaigners is the belief in human supremacy. It is generally taken for granted by both sides of the issue and left unchallenged. Advocates would discover they can make a stronger case if they relied less on the three S words (suffering, sentience and speciesism), and more on common sense, clear language and a frontal assault on human pride. It shifts the energy of the debate from a defensive posture (an effort to persuade the listener to embrace compassion and/or respect for non human life forms) to one that forces the most hard line adversary into a choice - either accept nonhuman righton as a necessary condition of a fair ethical system or concede that their own belief would allow humans to discriminate against other humans in unpleasant ways.

This article was inspired by Angelkate who has been kind enough to let me stowaway on her pirate ship. She has taken me on many an adventure while steering a true course between the water and the sky. We have seen glorious storms and traveled under the vibrant rainbows they leave behind. Perhaps she may agree that what follows is a proper compensation for the never-ending voyage.

Imagine a rosebush.

The roots secure deep into the earth, embedded within a foundation of worthwhile values. We have the support for honorable convictions.

Chapter One: Dissecting Conservation’s Biggest Myth

I care deeply about the survival of the earth. Even as I write these words, I know that this exquisite jewel of a planet is at unprecedented risk. The land, air and seas cry out as they have never done before; the seeds of destruction have been planted by humankind and they are germinating and growing at a monstrous rate. As many have foretold, we seem to be on the eve of destruction. We can speculate that it may take a miracle to turn such a resistant, self-mutilating society around, stopping the cycle of abuse and beginning the slow process of rehabilitation.

I remember sitting on the floor of my grandparents apartment as a small child and playing with a spinning top. It was mesmerizing. How could something that would otherwise fall right over, balance itself just by spinning? In physics class years later, learning the answer to this question only bred more questions: Why can't intricate systems keep their balance, when a simple system like a gyroscope can do it so easily? Then in biology, I found out that they can indeed. In nature, balance is the name of the game: Predators automatically balance out their pray. Parasites drive growth of the very immune systems they try to elude. Animals feeding on plants, to said plants return their nutrition. Well, what about people?

Nanak was a travelling guru. He visited many places in India, Arabia and Mesopotamia.

In Mecca is the Ka'aba, the sacred stone of the Muslims.

One morning nanak was found sleeping with his feet turned to the stone! Some Muslims were furious!

"How dare you be so insulting! How dare you sleep with you feet towards the face of God!"

Gently, Nanak says: "Very well then. Turn my feet to where God is not."

There is a fine story of a poor old lady who was selling some fruit she had gathered in order to make ends meet.

As she walked back and forth on the streets calling people to come and buy, the child Krishna, disguised as a beggar boy, walked up to her asking to eat some fruit from her basket.

She was a kind one and though it would cost her, she didn't refuse him. The child ate every one, thanked her and left!

A zen master was teaching a class.

One fidgety student was bored and gradually got irritated, because he had decided he couldn't grasp the ideas. This is not surprising since zen is not something to grasp. After all, when one asks "How do you carry zen?", the answer is often "in your empty hand."

In any case, such koans were not something this student wanted to deal with, so eventually he spoke out in frustration:
"I can't understand a thing you are saying."

Hey folks, here are a few I've recently done in the hopes of alleviating common concerns regarding feeding a cruelty-free, speciesism-free diet to our obligate carnivore friends. No reason to make the pigs and chickens pay for a problem that humans created, and the cats can be healthy and thrive while we're at it! Never before have we been able to "have our cake and eat it too." There are over 150 million cats in America alone (including strays) which makes it the single most numerous mammalian predator species on the continent. Letting cats hunt for themselves is devastating to local ecosystems, and enslaving billions of chickens, pigs, etc to feed them is just making the problem worse (hey, we created a hundred million cats, now we have to enslave a billion pigs and kill them just to keep all these cats alive! herp derp).

This is a philosophical essay based on my own experiences and reasoning. If you want to study the subject more thoroughly and from a scientific perspective, I suggest you look into the neurotransmitor known as Dopamine.

It seems to me that there are two kinds of pleasure which are easily confused when our wants and needs have gone haywire.

1. Short-term pleasure (stp), which often leads to unpleasure in the long run. This is the kind of pleasure that one often submits to by choice and which often lead to addictions. Some examples are: smoking, drugs, junk food, toxic relationships, negative thought patterns, etc.
2. Long-term pleasure (ltp), is something that only a very few will experience because ltp demands a different mindset than the one most of us have been taught by our current society/culture. The pursuit of this pleasure might require some changes that may not seem so pleasurable to begin with e.g. starting an exercise regimen, overcoming addictive/destructive habits, quitting a dead-end job, ending meaningless relationships, letting go of material belongings, moving, etc.

The ultimate pleasure which eventually encompasses both stp and ltp (although again, perhaps not initially), starts with the process of becoming a healthy, fit and ethical citizen of planet earth. In this state, our minds and bodies are working optimally and we are free from emotional baggage. We become a powerful, loving light at one with our enivorenment. We can then receive the great gifts of inner peace and mental strength which I like to call weapons of mass creation = WMC. Life becomes a joy and we radiate that joy to others.